Roller toy



p 1955 w. R. SHOUP, JR 2,718,728

ROLLER TOY Filed Sept. 30, 1953 INVENTOR. Wallace R. S/wup, Jr:

BY M, ,m

HIS A ORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 2,718,728 Patented Sept. 27,1955 ROLLER TOY Wallace R. Shoup, J12, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application September 30, 1953, Serial No. 383,249

Claims. c1. 46-204) My invention relates to a roller toy which may bevery easily and repeatedly assembled and disassembled by a child, sothat its appeal lies not only in its use as an entertaining toy but alsoas a safe and educative outlet for a childs natural curiosity concerningthe construction of his toys.

I am aware that roller toys have been proposed before, but to myknowledge such toys embody rigid, fixed, and relatively complicatedmeans for holding the rollers in assembled relation. Further, none isadapted to easy assembly and disassembly by the child himself.

The present toy embodies rollers and a very simple and yet effectivemeans for holding the rollers in a desired spaced relation. The holdingmeans includes a minimum of parts which enables even a child with littleskill repeatedly to assemble and disassemble the toy within a very shorttime. In my toy I contemplate a unit of construction comprising threesubstantially parallel rollers wherein one roller is positioned abovethe other two and in contact therewith. At least the bottom two rollershave openings at each end. A rod stationed by the adjacent ends of therollers has means to engage rotatively the openings of the bottom tworollers and a raised portion to engage the ends of the third roller andprevent its lateral movement with respect to the bottom two rollers.Suitable means connect the two rods to preclude substantial relativemovement thereof.

The accompanying drawing discloses presently preferred embodimentswherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the toy embodying just one unit ofconstruction;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective View of the means for holding the rollers ofFigure 1 in the assembled relation shown;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a spring which may be used in themeans of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the present toy embodying a pluralityof units of construction.

Referring to Figures 1 through 3, one unit of construction of theinstant toy includes rollers 10, 11, and 12 positioned with roller 11above the other two and in contact therewith. At least rollers and 12have openings 13 at each end and preferably roller 11 also has similarend openings 13a as when this unit is to be joined with other units ashereinafter explained. Rods 14 and 14a are stationed by the adjacentends of the rollers on each side of the toy. The rods may be metal orplastic of fairly stiff stock. Each rod has turned ends to form pins 15which rotatably engage the oversize openings 13 of rollers 10 and 12.The rods also have an inverted V-shaped bight 16 which engages the endsof roller 11 and prevents its lateral movement. Suitable means connectsthe rods 14 and 14a. Ordinary cord, or a wire 17 of sufiiciently smallgauge to be easily curled at its end on the bight 16 of the rods, or aresilient member such as the spring 18 of Figure 4 may be used for thispurpose. The spring 18 has end loops 19 which may be easily caughtaround a side of the bight 16. In any case, the

connecting means may join either the backward side of the bight as inFigure 1 or the forward side as in Figure 3. A pulling cord 20 isattached around the pins engaging roller 10. For ease of assembly, thiscord may have preformed end loops which merely slip around the pins.Decorative means such as spirals 21 are placed on the rollers.

The present toy may also embody a plurality of the units just describedwherein the rollers are placed in superposed layers or tiers. may becommon to two adjoining units. For example, in Figure 5, the partscorresponding to the unit of Figure 1 are repeated with the parts ofother units added including rollers 22, 23, and 24; rods 25 and 26; andwires 27 and 28, all similar in construction to the corresponding partsfirst described. Rod 26 joins roller 12 with roller 24 in the first tierand prevents lateral movement of roller 23 in the second tier. Rod 25joins roller 11 with roller 23 in the second tier and prevents lateralmovement of roller 22 in the third tier. The wires 27 and 28 join rods25 and 26, respectively, to two rods (not shown) on the other side ofthe toy which similarly engage the other ends of the same rollers asdescribed in connection with the embodiment of Figure 1. Thus, roller 12is common to the unit first described and a unit including rollers 12,23, and 24; roller 11 is likewise common to the first unit and also to aunit of rollers 11, 22, and 23; and roller 23 is common to a unit ofrollers 12, 23, and 24jand a unit of rollers 11, 22, and 23. Only thecorner rollers 10, 22 and 24 are used in a single unit. If desired, therods 14 and 26 in Figure 5 may be made as one piece, and this practicemay be followed on the rods in the same tier of any multi-unitembodiment.

To assemble a unit, a user need only insert the rods 14 and 14a in theends of two rollers after first including the pulling cord 20 about theforward pins of those rods if this assembly is the first. Thereafter,the rods are connected by a wire 17 or spring 18 and a third rollerplaced over and between the first two rollers. If more units aredesired, they are similarly added to the construction. To disassemblethe toy, the reverse procedure is followed. When the toy moves over asurface as by being pulled by the cord 20, the rollers in adjacent tiersare caused to rotate in opposite directions. The spiral 21 or otherdecorative means placed on the rollers thereby present a pleasing andattractive optical efiect. In the embodiment of Figure 5, the rod 25urges rollers 11 and 23 apart and therefore also urges rollers 10 and 24away from roller 12. This construction aids in preventing the pinsjointly occupying the end openings of roller 12 from binding itsrotation. Further, the present flexible construction wherein no rollerhas a fixed relation with another roller enables the toy to ride overbumps and similar obstructions smoothly. 7

While the foregoing disclosure describes a presently preferredembodiment and modifications thereof, it is understood that theinvention may be practiced in still other forms within the scope of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A roller toy adapted for easy assembly and disassembly including aplurality of units adapted to be associated with one another insuperposed layers, each unit including three rollers with one rollerpositioned above the other two and in contact therewith, at least thebottom two rollers having an opening at each end, means to hold therollers in said relation including a rod pivotally engaging saidopenings along each of the corresponding ends of the bottom two rollers,each rod having a raised portion engaging only with an end of the thirdroller, and means to connect said rods to prevent substantial relativemovement of one with respect to the other.

2. A roller toy adapted for easy assembly and dis- In such a case, eachroller assembly by a child including six substantially parallel rollers,three rollers constituting a first tier with each successive tier havingone less roller, at least all but the top roller having an opening ateach end and the rollers of each tier contacting those of adjacenttiers, a retaining wire .at each of the corresponding ends of the firsttwo rollers of the first tier and the first roller of the second tier,another retaining wire at each of the corresponding ends .of the secondand third rollers of the first tier and the second roller of the secondtier, a further retaining wire at each of the corresponding ends of thetop three rollers, each retaining wire including turned ends to formpins which rotatably engage the end openings of the two rollers of thesame tier associated with the wire, each retaining wire also having araised medial portion to prevent lateral movement of the third rollerand whereby said last mentioned retaining wire urges apart the pins ofthe first two mentioned retaining wires which conjointly engage the endopenings of the second roller of the first tier, and means to preventsubstantial relative movement of the wires associated with the samerollers with respect to each other.

3. A roller toy adapted for repetitive assembly and disassemblyincluding three interchangeable rollers having a central opening at eachend of at least two of the rollers, said rollers being adapted to bepositioned with one above the other two and in contact therewith wherebyrotating the bottom two rollers in one direction causes oppositerotation in the third, means to hold the rollers in said positionincluding a wire at each of the corresponding ends of the bottom tworollers, each wire having turned ends to form pins which are rotatablyengageable with the end openings of the bottom two rollers, each wirealso having an inverted V-shaped bight to make contact only with an endof the upper roller and prevent lateral movement thereof, and means toprevent substantial relative movement of the two wires, means to pullthe toy, and decorative means on the rollers adapted to provide apleasing appearance upon rotation of the same.

4. A toy including a plurality of substantially parallel rollersarranged in tiers and means to hold the rollers in each tier in saidrelation including a rod pivotally connecting said rollers along each oftheir corresponding ends, each rod having a raised portion makingcontact only with a roller of another tier and thereby preventing excesslateral movement of said roller, and means to prevent substantialmovement of one rod relative to another in the same tier.

5. A roller toy adapted for easy assembly including a plurality ofsubstantially parallel rollers arranged in tiers with one less roller ineach succeeding tier, a rod pivotally connecting contiguous rollers ofeach tier at each of their corresponding ends, each rod having a raisedportion making engagement only with a roller disposed in a next tier andthereby to prevent excess lateral movement of said roller, and means toprevent substantial relative movement between the rods engaging the samerollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,566,495 Mallard Dec. 22, 1925 2,383,232 Ayres Aug. 21, 1945 2,496,603Schwanengel Feb. 7, I950

